I've been reading this but haven't joined in, however I thought perhaps I would have my two cents' worth. Our folk club, which meets twice a month, is run in singaround style - as each person's turn comes around they can choose whether to sing, play, recite a poem - it's their choice. A few years ago we started monthly 'theme' nights to give us a chance to stretch ourselves a bit, and it has mostly worked....but there is one bloke who has his few favourite party pieces, it's amazing how he can manage to tie them into the theme of the night! I think for him it's a matter of not having the confidence to branch out into new material.

At the start of last year I decided to have a new piece for each club meeting, and I have managed to do that. Not all have been learnt word perfectly, or note perfectly, but we are a very forgiving bunch when it comes to having paper in front of us. We are a mixture of amateurs and pros but we all have a good time - the club wouldn't keep going if we didn't.

Cheers
JennieG